# Prospects of Electrocorticography in Neuropharmacological Studies in Small Laboratory Animals

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how electrocorticography (ECoG) can be used in small animals to study drug effects on brain activity, especially in epilepsy and neuroprotection.

## Contribution

The paper highlights underutilized applications of ECoG in assessing neuroprotective drugs and combining it with machine learning for pharmacological studies.

## Key findings

- ECoG is commonly used to study antiepileptic drugs but is underused for neuroprotection research.
- Combining ECoG with classification algorithms is gaining traction for drug effect analysis.
- ECoG complements traditional methods by providing functional brain activity data.

## Abstract

Electrophysiological methods of research are widely used in neurobiology. To assess the bioelectrical activity of the brain in small laboratory animals, electrocorticography (ECoG) is most often used, which allows the recording of signals directly from the cerebral cortex. To date, a number of methodological approaches to the manufacture and implantation of ECoG electrodes have been proposed, the complexity of which is determined by experimental tasks and logistical capabilities. Existing methods for analyzing bioelectrical signals are used to assess the functional state of the nervous system in test animals, as well as to identify correlates of pathological changes or pharmacological effects. The review presents current areas of applications of ECoG in neuropharmacological studies in small laboratory animals. Traditionally, this method is actively used to study the antiepileptic activity of new molecules. However, the possibility of using ECoG to assess the neuroprotective activity of drugs in models of traumatic, vascular, metabolic, or neurodegenerative CNS damage remains clearly underestimated. Despite the fact that ECoG has a number of disadvantages and methodological difficulties, the recorded data can be a useful addition to traditional molecular and behavioral research methods. An analysis of the works in recent years indicates a growing interest in the method as a tool for assessing the pharmacological activity of psychoactive drugs, especially in combination with classification and prediction algorithms.